8 replies to this topic

[Sarah J]

Claire, hang in there. I am at day 36 without Cymbalta after 3.5 years on it. The first two weeks are the hardest. For me after the first two weeks, it has been about my brain readjusting and some days are white knuckle days, where you are trying to figure out what you are supposed to be doing, and just can't figure it out. I think I have come far enough now to continue without it. This is not confirmation that I do not need help with the anxeity or depression. But I am hoping that after the dark spot I hit this past week, things will look up. When I stopped, I had been on 30 mg, my highest dose over the past 3.5 years being 60 mg. I have no idea how long it takes to feel normal again, but I will say that I am going to continue without Cymbalta. It did help for the first 6-9 months. I hope that you and the others who post and read here are doing well today. I am surviving and trying to figure out who I am again.

[Sarah J]

Claire, I don't mind you asking, I have only ever taken Cymbalta and it has been 3.5 years. I am 40 years old. Occasionally I take lorazepam for anxeity attacks (severe ones). I started taking Cymbalta for siituational depression, I had a year where I had to "help" my uncle pass on and several other people passed away. But I have had a difficult life and have had bouts of depression for years. I did psychotherapy for about 10 years. So now here I am on day 37. The Cymbalta stopped helping me over a year ago. I kept telling the psychiatrist that. I was going through a rough patch where I was only having 5 functional days a week and the shrink had suggested adding in an anti-seizure mediciation to add to the Cymbalta. My suggestion was to see what and who I am without it. I can always go back to taking something if I am not able to cope.

I think that through this I may have lost one of my clients, who is a difficult person, but I really enjoy the work and money I make from him. In a rage, I really freaked out and now I think that I need to be out on the street looking for new clients to replace him. I actually told him after we had a spat that I wanted him to fire me. He told me that was not going to happen, but honestly, I don't know how I am going to get the work done (I am a graphic artist) for him. I have no problem with my other clients at all, some of which I have worked with for over 10 years. It is a little devastating that I might have thrown away something that I was looking forward to working on for a long time. Even though my client told me that he wants to work with me for a long time, I don't believe him and I don't know if it is the withdrawal, or just the fact that maybe I am feeling things again and I am the one who wants to walk away.

I really don't want to have to take medicine to function, but understand that I may have to. The withdrawal is challenging and I hope that you are feeling somewhat better today. I am going to try to finish a project for the client I think is going to fire me, but I have a feeling that I will just be staring at a screen. If that goes on for over a half an hour, I will stop trying to make that project happen and work on something that I can actually be productive at.

[schmb01]

Dear Sarah
thankyou for your reply!
I finally saw my doctor today, he has agreed to tapering me off lamictal and cymbalta, im on 90mg cymbalta, 300mg lamictal, i have to taper off before strting on Effexor.
Ill stay on it for a year while i get all my self help techniques down pact, i dont want to be on meds the rest of my life.
If i knew how horrible withdrawl would be i would never have agreed to go on it.
I think and hope im getting back on the right track now.
Iv,e had GAD and deppression for 11 yrs now, if you dont mind me me asking how long have you dealt with this and whats the longest time frame youv,e been on meds for.
With Thanks And Have A Great Day!!!!.
Claire

I will tell you, Effexor has the same effect as Cymbalta when it comes to stopping. I took Effexor for a year, and it stopped working, so we just zoomed over to Cymbalta. I knew Effexor wasn't working because I was getting the brain zaps from it. Just go into it with your eyes open. If you do search on Effexor withdrawl, you will find many of the same effects. Good Luck, I'm on day 2 at 30 mg, down from 90mg as of last Friday, so I did a pretty quick jump.

[Sarah J]

To everyone here - in all of my Cymbalta withdrawal research, I have not found anybody who posts that has been off this stuff for over 3 months. So, does this mean that after a couple of months, people feel better and don't come here to post?

I have no idea yet. I am on day 38 now. I do not want to go back to Cymbalta. My experience has been a bit easier than I have seen others describe, but I will not say that this is easy. I do however, feel like I hit the bottom of this and do see a way up. I just don't know how to get there yet, but there is still some fight in me to return to who I was before taking this. I figure that the worst is that I realize I really do need medical intervention to cope, and I will try something else.

If I get to the point where I do feel better, I will make it a point to keep posting to people who are trying to come off of this. It is a bit daunting when all you find are horror stories about the withdrawal process, but then, I do have to assume that the people who stop with no problems aren't out there looking for support, as they are doing well. My best to everyone here.

[Sarah J]

Dear Claire, Today is day 38 for me, the past week I feel like I hit the bottom, but now am starting to see the top again. This is a struggle that I don't want to lose. Breathing techniques will help you. I take Pilates classes two nights a week and had to force myself to go yesterday night, but felt stronger and clearer afterwards. I went and saw some of my clients this morning. I have new jobs coming down the pike. I only hope that when I get through this, I will continue to monitor this board and help those who are in the initial stages of coming off of Cymbalta. All the best to you and everyone else.

[coco12]

I was on Effexor for a few years and it worked very well. The reason I was switched to Cymbalta was the Effexor was bothering my stomach after awhile. I do think it worked the best for anxiety. When they switched me to Cymbalta the side effects were alful so I decided to try to get off it and that is when my withdrawl hell started. I do think if you have to be on a antidepressant this might work well for you, but everyone responds differently. I hope everything works out for you.

[shakenbake]

I was SO grateful to have found your postings! I thought there was something horrifically wrong with me, so it was very reassuring to know what was happening to me during this withdrawal was "normal". I saw the phrase "brain buzzing" and thought that was brilliant. I am now at my 15th day without Cymbalta and am feeling so much better. The buzzing has decreased significantly, as have the knotting in my stomach, the hot/cold swings and the psychadelic type feeling every time I turned my head. My appetite has been amusing to say the least; one day I dont' want any food all day, the next I'm famished. Right now, I'm kind of letting myself do what I need to in order to get through this.

On paper, exercise would seem like a good thing to help me flush my system, but the thought of moving my head or making my heart go fast just is not the right thing, I know that instinctively. So I'm going to yoga instead which at least gets me stretching these horrid body aches.

But I do want everyone else to know the buzzing and dizziness are much better at 15 days. Hang in there.

[schmb01]

Claire, I posted earlier, but just be aware that Effexor can have the same withdrawal difficulties as Cymbalta. I will say that while on it, before it stopped working, I did feel pretty good, and it seemed to work much longer for me than Cymbalta did. Just be aware that coming off of it is much the same as coming off of this. There are sites dedicated to Effexor withdrawal too.

[That1TyGuy]

I bet jumping off of it cold turkey has to be pretty hard for you. I hope you get better and that it gets better for you.

I hope you have family and friends that can support you throughout your way through the process and wish you all the best. Just remember we are all rooting for you here.